After a debut season in the premier class in which he left more than one with his mouth open achieving two podiums with a Ducati 2019, the oldest on the grid, of the Avintia team, Enea Bastianini is preparing to face his second year between the greats in a new structure, that of Gresini, and with a much better bike, the Desmosedici GP21, the bike with which Pecco Bagnaia managed to fight for the title until almost the end of last season, in which he was runner-up in the world , and that won up to seven races in the hands of the Italian, Jack Miller and Jorge Martín.
A fully developed prototype that allowed the boy from Rimini to lead the first pre-season tests in Sepang, passing in front of the brand new GP22 of Pecco himself, who was sixth, or Martin, who finished third on the time sheet.
“The 2021 bike, compared to the 2019 one, is much easier to ride, because with last year’s bike it always had a lot of rebound, on all circuits, it was less forgiving of mistakes,” Bastianini explained as soon as the second day ended. of training in Sepang.
The Italian regretted, however, a mistake that prevented him from further improving his fastest lap time.
“I went a little long in the last corner when I was coming to go down to 1.57, it was possible, but I couldn’t do it,” said the Italian, whose best time was 1.58.131, below the track record.
“We have taken a big step forward, but above all now I can be fast just by going out on the track, whereas with last year’s bike it always took me a while to get up to speed. I also have more experience, I have worked a lot this winter on my points weak,” he said.
In addition to the experience, Bastianini highlighted that “last year in each training session the bike was different, this year since the Jerez tests, the bike has always been the same”, to highlight the strength of the machine.
“It’s also more consistent and faster. You can save any mistakes and the bike is stable. This is really very positive,” he stressed.
Although he does not have the same motorcycle as the official riders, Enea looks at the data of his brand partners to improve
“When I see the data, when I see Jack, Pecco or Jorge Martín , I understand that I have to improve in the middle of the curve,” he said. “My style has always been to be fast in the corners, I’m aggressive on the entry, above all. But with this bike, the real potential is in the power of the engine and I have to be faster on the exit of the corner.”
Bastinini is aware that the contract decisions for the 2023 season will be made in the first months of the year, and that this may give him a slight advantage in terms of having a bike already made.
“At the moment there is not a big difference between the two bikes, they are similar. The 2022 has a new engine, but the one in 2021 is already good. In the short term it can be an advantage, but only for a few races, then it will be different, the official team works a lot, Gigi is an incredible guy,” he said, referring to engineer Dall’Igna .
Enea admitted that leading the tests “is a great stimulus for me and for the team, we are very motivated but calm, because we don’t have pressure since we are not an official team. This can be an advantage for me,” he said before assuring: “Although obviously my goal is to be a driver for the official Ducati team”, which is preparing to renew Bagnaia and will have to decide who will accompany him in 2023, and the list of candidates does not it is short
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Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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